Excerpt from Homily of Cardinal Thomas Collins for Stewardship Sunday: September 18, 2022

     We who have been given the message of the Gospel, the invitation to the Kingdom of God, and the grace of the Sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist; we who have been given so many gifts from the Lord, including the brief time we have on this earth, need to use our talents with at least the intelligence, the wisdom, the astuteness of the people of this world who use them very effectively for things which are not worth very much, or even for things which are evil. The children of the light, the servants of the Lord, must know how to be effective in using the gifts that God has given them.

     We are stewards. We are servants who are entrusted with the gifts of time, talent and treasure. God has given us our very life and the precious gift of time. He has given us our talents and has helped each one of us in different ways. Above all, He has given us the great gift of our faith, as well as the material goods we possess.

     We've been entrusted with these gifts only for a while, in order that we might use them wisely and astutely, with at least the creativity and the energy that the people who serve false gods, or no God at all, use in the pursuit of the far lesser things that they cherish.